Manual firearms, such as rifles and shotguns, are designed to fire a round of ammunition, such as a cartridge or shot shell, in response to each squeeze of the trigger of the firearm, and thereafter a bolt assembly in the receiver of the firearm will be manually operated to eject the empty shell or cartridge casing and load the next shell or cartridge from the firearm magazine into the chamber of the firearm. Semi-automatic firearms are designed to fire a round of ammunition, such as a cartridge or shot shell, in response to each squeeze of the trigger of the firearm, and thereafter automatically eject the spent shell or cartridge and load the next shell or cartridge from the firearm magazine into the chamber of the firearm. During firing, the primer of the round of ammunition ignites the propellant inside the round, producing an expanding column of high pressure gases within the chamber and barrel of the firearm. The force of this expanding gas propels the bullet/shot of the cartridge or shell down the barrel.
It is becoming desirable now in military, and even civilian sporting firearms, that the barrel of such firearms be easily replaceable to enable a change of calibers of ammunition to be used in the firearm and/or to provide for replacement of damaged barrels and/or use of barrels of different lengths for different end use scenarios. The changeout of barrels is, however, often further complicated by the use of various hand guards and accessory rail assemblies typically mounted about the barrels of such firearms. In addition, the increasing use of monolithic or one-piece receiver and hand guard assemblies, especially in military firearms, has further complicated barrel removal in these types of firearms. Typically, the hand guards, and often other accessories, must be removed from the firearm prior to the removal and replacement of the barrel, can significantly increase the difficulty and time required for barrel change-out. Such a process further is complicated when it must be done in the field. Additionally, optics used with the firearm may need to be reassembled and recalibrated when reassembling a hand guard to a firearm after changing a barrel, which requires additional expertise and time.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a barrel mounting and retention assembly that addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.